Tennis: United States loses to Spain in Davis Cup semifinals

There would be no five-set epic for John Isner on Sunday.

He lost in four sets to the relentless David Ferrer of Spain and the 2012 Davis Cup campaign for the United States ended on the clay of Gijon, Spain. Ferrer defeated Isner, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, to give Spain a 3-1 lead, clinching the Davis Cup semifinal.

Spain, the defending Davis Cup champion, will play either Argentina or the Czech Republic in November in the final.

Isner had two impressive clay-court wins in Davis Cup this year, beating Roger Federer of Switzerland and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. But he unraveled against Ferrer, committing 70 unforced errors and had his serve broken six times.

Ferrer has not lost a Davis Cup singles match on clay, going 16-0 on that surface. It was a quick turnaround for the No. 5-ranked player, who lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Open just eight days ago.

Spain was without Rafael Nadal, who remains sidelined because of an injured left knee.

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